HNLMS De Ruyter () is a of the Royal Netherlands Navy. She was laid down in 2000, launched in 2002, and commissioned in 2004, the third ship of her class to enter service. The frigate is named after Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter (1607–1676). Service history Standing Group flagship From 2005 until 2007 De Ruyter was commanded by Rob Bauer, during which period she was deployed to the Mediterranean as part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 as part of the NATO Response Force in Operation Active Endeavour. In late 2006, Bauer was deployed to Bahrain for five months as Deputy Commander of Combined Task Force 150 in Operation Enduring Freedom. From 12 January 2007 to July 2009 De Ruyter was commanded by Commander Jeanette Morang, the first woman to command a frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Commander Harold Liebregs was De Ruyters commanding officer from December 2012. In September and October 2007, satellite television channels in Israel were plagued with signal disruptions, with the north of the country particularly badly affected. Eventually the Ministry of Defense intervened, and with the help of the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Sea Corps, discovered that the problems had been caused by the radar systems of Dutch UNIFIL ships patrolling off the coast of Lebanon. De Ruyter, anchored off the coast of the Lebanon, allegedly transmitted signals onto frequencies adjacent to those used by the satellite operator. On 12 January 2012 De Ruyter sailed from her home port of Den Helder to take up the role of flagship for Standing NATO Maritime Group 1. The group, led by Dutch Commodore Ben Bekkering, was under Dutch command for the remainder of the year, beginning on 23 January when De Ruyter assumed the flagship role in the Italian port of Taranto. De Ruyter took part in maritime operations and exercises in the Mediterranean and counterpiracy operations around the Horn of Africa, before being replaced by her sister ship in April. Atalanta deployments In early 2013 De Ruyter deployed with Operation Atalanta, the EU's anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa. On 19 February De Ruyter was tasked to locate a group of suspected pirate skiffs reported by a Panamanian merchant ship. De Ruyter located two skiffs north east of Eyl, which split up when approached. One was stopped and detained by the De Ruyter, the other was apprehended by the Spanish frigate . Nine